In the wake of controversy and scandal, calls for resignations, coup d’etats and other forms of leadership change are standard. Sometimes, they are knee-jerk, let-the-heads-roll expressions of emotion that soon fizzle out as other stories or priorities take precedence. Or, if they persist, those protests may actually influence action, which can range from a symbolic […]
Working with my middle school-aged children on their homework, I am reminded of the need to use synonyms in order to spice up communication. Do we go with “provided” or “offered”? How about “reflects” or “illustrates”? These variations in word choice are benign, designed to break up monotony. But not all alternative word choices are so […]
Although Nike popularized the notion of “Just Do It,” the principle of getting going—and getting out of your own way in the process—cuts across so many aspects of life. In writing, one of the best ways to “just write it” is to begin with a prompt. It’s sort of the brainstorming equivalent of jumping jacks, […]
In 1986, Northwestern University’s football squad, on the strength of winning two nail-biters at the end of the season against Michigan State & Illinois, attained four victories for the first time since 1973. Those details are so ingrained in my memory because I was a freshman at NU and my work-study job in the Sports […]
Have you heard the story about the guy who went straight to the top, without any setbacks along the way? He enjoyed one triumph after another, each conquered mountain taller than the previous peak. Of course you didn’t hear that story. It’s obviously phony. Life is rarely so neatly navigated, so.tidy. Neither are numbers, and […]
Whether it’s the latest surge or decline in prices at the gas pump, realizing that you are running late when you glance at your watch, or any number of everyday moments, numbers have an undeniable impact on our emotions. Last night, at Wrigley Field, the 34,000-plus fans who came out to watch the Chicago Cubs […]
Jim Collins, the acclaimed author or co-author of groundbreaking business books like “Good to Great” and “Built to Last,” calls them BHAGs: Big Hairy Audacious Goals. As defined by Wikipedia, a BHAG “is a strategic business statement similar to a vision statement which is created to focus an organization on a single medium-long term organization-wide […]
Have you ever had the experience of seeing a movie that you were skeptical would be much of anything to write home about–then being pleasantly surprised when it was actually pretty good? Or, on the other end of the spectrum, do you recall the time (or two, or three, or…) when you heard a ton […]
We fence ourselves in sometimes. Color inside the lines. Steer clear of stretching beyond the norm. But in an increasingly automated world, where so much is standardized and sanitized, it’s such a refreshing thing to see creativity jutting out of the most unexpected places. Here’s one way to hop the ho-hum fence that we, often […]